On the other thread you called it ‘his’ White House… do make up your mind… and let me ask you. If he found a brilliant individual who could solve all the country’s ills but he character flaws that were not an affecter of his work … do you object? Do you know everything about your employees home life? Besides, now, other than the fact that he has resigned… he is no longer a black mail risk…

“You go into Afghanistan, you got guys who slap women around for five years because they didn’t wear a veil. You know, guys like that ain’t got no manhood left anyway. So it’s a hell of a lot of fun to shoot them. Actually it’s quite fun to fight them, you know. It’s a hell of a hoot. It’s fun to shoot some people. I’ll be right up there with you. I like brawling.”

Secretary of Defense Mattis seems to think that wife beaters have no manhood and are deserving of being shot, shrug.

What the fuck are you talking about ?
You go into Afghanistan, you got guys who slap women around for five years because they didn’t wear a veil.
Hell you can go to any place America and find victims of domestic abuse . No need to go to Afghanistan unless you have a strong dislike of Afghans and want to shoot them ?
You know, guys like that ain’t got no manhood left anyway. I just don’t know what to say about this bazaar statement .
So it’s a hell of a lot of fun to shoot them. This is disturbing to put it mildly !
Call the VA and get help !

The Rob Porter scandal seems to have more staying power, than other scandals that might seem equal or possibly greater. But it seems to me that a big reason this has hurt Trump so much is quite simple: the photo of the ex-wife with a black eye. A picture is worth a thousand words. This was the key reason his claims about the size of his inaugural crowd got ridiculed–there were pictures showing Obama’s much larger crowd. Of course, in the Porter matter the incoherence/inconsistency of the Administration response then has helped keep this alive, but I think the picture was what made it big in the first place.

This is a very obvious point, but I think it’s worth stressing because it has an implication: if there’s any way to get those out-takes from the Apprentice of Trump saying horrible things, I think that could be important. I think people tend to dismiss the significance of such things because he got elected after the pussy tape; true, but it hurt him, a lot, and more stuff like that probably would be hurtful again. Not sure how one acts on this idea–how to try to get those tapes out–but do think it is something more effort should be devoted to.

any way to get those out-takes from the Apprentice of Trump saying horrible things

My understanding is that there is not a way. They are held, as private property, I believe, by an individual. However, my understanding of this really falls within the “whisper and rumor” parameter – and so shouldn’t be taken as informed.

To your further point, the “why?” of this particular scandal. Good question. I have not looked at the photo (I don’t want to), but would agree, generally, that images can cut through in ways that “logic” cannot. I would also note that the abuse we are hearing about Porter is not a single woman’s story. There is the issue of a glass door being smashed. A protective order issued. (Porter’s defense stories read as pure absurdity.) In this instance, you then also have Conway insinuating that Hicks is tough and the ex-wife wasn’t. That’s up there with Kelly’s rotten core in my book. Beyond garbage. To use an old-fashioned phrase from my mother, I am spitting mad about that one. But, my point is I was struck by an image, a weight, of mounting evidence – incompetence, scandal, an endless roughness, no air. And, I began wondering if things are adding up, finally, and if that isn’t part of the story here. I don’t know if this is a good comparison, but we saw the effect of multiple witnesses, mounting evidence, in the recent Roy Moore senate race collapse.

Where I would diverge some from what you posted – and where I’m somewhat contradicting myself! ? – is with the worth of getting/releasing the “tape,” whether it is Apprentice or Russian kompromat. I’m honestly not sure it would be effective. Though, I’m also not sure why I’m not sure. And, with having said that mounting evidence may be mattering, I’m even more at a loss to explain my intuition. Perhaps because Trump has managed to lower the bar for decency to unimaginable gutter lows and no one expects anything from him except scandal and rot.

Whad ya think of the official Obama portrait? Certainly a huge departure from the stature and dignity of so many previous presidential portraits… But his flamboyance and disrespect for the office and the culture around it had nothing to do with the tenor of the office today.

P.S. Porter’s comment about the picture doesn’t deny its existence but he did say that the circumstances surrounding it are not as his ex has stated. My wife once gave me a black eye… she rolled over in bed and hit me square in the eye with her elbow. Their seems to be a lot of revenge porn out in the world today and not all pictures tell the exact story.

I would also note that the abuse we are hearing about Porter is not a single woman’s story.

I would take you guys as being serious about these kinds of claims if, even up to the 2016 presidential debates three of more than a dozen women looked Bill Clinton directly in the eye and the left remained, as they had for years, silent at best and attacking the victims at worst… and why?.. because it was politically adventitious.

[1518572513534]
Black escort turns up dead in rich Dem donor’s apartment
Surrounded by dirty needles and piles of meth
Cops try to hush it up, "nothing to see here"
Family finds kid’s diary where he explicitly names Dem donor as guy who hooked him on meth
Family posts pictures of diary pages online
Cops grudgingly start investigation
Media oddly quiet about it

As for what the Democrats can do now–certainly this is anything but a new idea, but do think Trump and GOP vulnerable on tax bill/budget, if Dems are just passably smart in attacks. “Look, he’s cutting medicare and education and public health, all for the sake of himself and his rich friends/donors.” It’s possible to screw this up, and Dems sometimes good at that, but it shouldn’t be that hard to pull off. Anyway, that’s my instinct…